Call for Papers

The Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy (formerly the Penn Program on Democracy, Citizenship, and Constitutionalism) invites paper proposals for its Annual Graduate Workshop Series at the University of Pennsylvania. We welcome submissions by doctoral students (PhD, JSD, SJD, etc.) from any university and discipline whose research explores the controversies, dilemmas, and promises of democratic society.

The Center provides an interdisciplinary venue for graduate students to present their research and receive constructive scholarly feedback. By placing papers in conversation with each other across disciplinary boundaries, we hope to provoke new ways of thinking about the implications of democracy and citizenship. We encourage papers that interrogate democracy and citizenship from any of the following dimensions and beyond:

·         ●  Tensions between definitions of democracy and citizenship

·         ●  Public attitudes toward state institutions across time

·         ●  Comparative analyses across national contexts

·         ●  Law and public policy

·         ●  Inequality and social stratification

·         ●  Race and racism

·         ●  Cultural memory and public history

·         ●  Media and social movements

You can find titles of papers presented at the Graduate Workshop in past years here[sas.upenn.edu].

The Andrea Mitchell Center’s Graduate Workshop is a yearlong series held once a month between September 2018 and May 2019. Two graduate students, usually from different fields, present their papers at each meeting. A discussant will help foster conversation between the papers. Presentations are approximately 10 minutes per paper, followed by comments and then a group discussion. Papers are circulated 10 days in advance of the workshop and should be no more than 25 double-spaced pages.

Applications are due July 30th, 2018 to andreamitchellcenter@gmail.com . Please send 1) an abstract of up to 300 words including a working title for the paper and 2) a brief statement that indicates your discipline, institution, and when your paper will be ready .

Do not hesitate to apply if your paper will be ready at a later date since we hold workshops throughout the academic year. We are not able to provide funding for travel or accommodations. Feel free to contact us with any questions. We look forward to hearing from you!

Leslie Kay Jones, Sociology
Gregory Koutnik, Political Science
Kristian Taketomo, History

Graduate Fellows, Andrea Mitchell Center for the Study of Democracy

University of Pennsylvania